Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Drinking & Nightlife
30
Columbus Bar
C3
31
Jam Bar
C4
Entertainment
32
O Castelo
C5
D2
Sights & Activities
Cidade Velha
Within medieval walls, the picturesque Cidade Velha (Old Town) consists of winding,
peaceful cobbled streets and squares, reconstructed in a melange of styles following suc-
cessive batterings - first by marauding British and then by two big earthquakes.
Arco da Vila
LANDMARK
Enter the Cidade Velha through the neoclassical Arco da Vila, built by order of Bishop
Francisco Gomes, Faro's answer to the Marquês de Pombal, who oversaw the city's re-
construction after the 1755 earthquake. The top of the street opens onto the orange tree-
lined Largo da Sé, with the
câmara municipal
(town hall) on the left, the Paço Episcopal
(Bishop's Palace) on the right and the ancient
sé
(cathedral) in front of you.
Sé
(admission €3; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat year-round, 10am-6pm Mon-Fri Jun-Aug)
Housed within
the walls of the Cidade Velha, the
sé
was completed in 1251, on what was probably the
site of a Roman temple, then a Visigoth cathedral and then a Moorish mosque. Only the
tower gate and several chapels remain of the original Romanesque-Gothic exterior - the
rest was destroyed in 1755. It was rebuilt in a polygamy of Gothic, Renaissance and
baroque styles, with intense gilded carving alongside elaborate tilework inside. The
CATHEDRAL
